Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Shimit Amin directs. Vikash Nowlakha behind the camera. Salim Merchant scores. Arindam Ghatak cuts. Produced in India. Dialogue in Hindi.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Clocks in at 156 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
• 2Shot for just $1.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 3Released 17 years ago.
• 4Directed by Shimit Amin, shot by Vikash Nowlakha. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Salim Merchant. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Arindam Ghatak shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Ranbir Kapoor and Prem Chopra and Mukesh Bhatt carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "Welcome to the world of sales boss!".
• 9IMDB entry: tt1434447 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Vikash Nowlakha

Original score

Salim Merchant

Editing

Arindam Ghatak

Runtime

156 min · 2h 36m

Status

Released

Budget

$1,250,000

Original language

HI

IMDB

Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year (2009) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

88% 🍅 Fresh

IMDB rating

7.5/10 · 22,603 votes

MPAA

Not Rated

Also by

Shimit Amin

• 
  Ab Tak Chhappan

  2004 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Chak De! India

  2007 · ★ 7.2
• 
  A Suitable Boy

  2020 · ★ 6.0
• 
  Captain India

  2027

Community reviews

What people are saying

• THE-LENS2026-09-19

  Film: Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year Director: Shimit Amin Release date: 11 December 2009 (UK) Screenplay: Jaideep Sahni Cast: It stars Ranbir Kapoor in the title role, with D. Santosh, Gauahar Khan, Naveen Kaushik, Prem Chopra, Manish Chaudhari, and debutante Shazahn Padamsee in supporting roles. Review by Dr Usman Latif Khawaja If Madoff was not a mal-salubrious salesman who was extremely corrupt to the core, then Shimit Amin is the very antithesis or alter ego of that entity, as he makes a fantasy mixing religion, corporate corruption, and the dream to cure a corrupt world in this limpid comedy, which is a sad reminder of the golden period when Basu Chatterjee, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, and Gulzar made comic classics like Naram Garam, Gol Maal, Manzil, Angoor, and Khatta Meetha. Shimit lacks not just their vision but also the talent that was available to Bollywood in the seventies and before, and the persona that defined stardom. This, despite its Capraesque demeanour and outrageous plot, which is downright riddled with loopholes from start to beginning, is nothing but a tedious sermon on pseudo-morality and lacks that single moment where one can relate to the limpid drama and direction. Another disappointment from Amin after Love Aaj Kal, as Chak De! India seems to be just a flash in the pan. The result is a fake and fetid drama impersonating immorality, as if there is no such thing as a moral dilemma, as the hero is a sugar-candy saint while the rest of the protagonists are all villains. NOTHING NEW FROM YASH RAJ, as they have now made this their regular formula for two decades.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Yash Raj Films

  IN

Key crew

• DialogueJaideep Sahni
• ProducerAditya Chopra
• LyricistJaideep Sahni
• Playback SingerSalim Merchant
• Playback SingerBenny Dayal
• Playback SingerNeeraj Shridhar
• Playback SingerVishal Dadlani
• Line ProducerNavneet S Jha
• Executive ProducerAashish Singh
• Executive ProducerSanjay Shivalkar
• EditorArindam Ghatak
• CastingAbhimanyu Ray
• Costume DesignerNiharika Bhasin
• Production DesignerAbid T.P.

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• ambition
• business
• india
• struggling career

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2009-12-11

Also known as

International titles

• Rocket SinghUS
• Rocket Singh-SOTYUS
• Rocket Singh Salesman of the YearUS
• ร็อกเก็ต สิงห์ เซลแมนแห่งปีTH
• КоммерсантRU